Anthony Slaughter is getting used to being recognised in what has been the most high-profile election campaign of the many he’s fought.
The Wales Green Party leader says he was recognised and greeted four times by people he didn’t know in his home town of Penarth as he walked to our meeting.
As we chat a woman approaches the table to greet him. “It’s partly since the television debates,” he tells me.
“People say in the comments afterwards that I look different and sound different to other politicians and people want change.”
Knocking on doors for the Senedd election campaign he says people tell him their biggest concerns are the cost of living and NHS. No surprises there – but he also says people are hankering after more positive politics.
There’s no doubting that some of the Green Party for Wales’ manifesto for Thursday’s Senedd election is a wishlist most people could get behind. But until now Mr Slaughter and the party have shied away from costing it.
At last I pin him down to figures, which he insists are entirely doable, with the caveat that no party will have the exact data needed for accurate sums until, and unless, they get into power – or at least some form of power-share.
So here are his figures for the Green Party’s Senedd election manifesto:
- Pledge of free bus travel for all people under 22 – £59m over three years.
- £1 bus travel for all people aged up to 59 (the 60 and over free travel would continue) – £325m over three years.
- Scrapping council tax and replacing it with a land value tax – cost-neutral albeit with an estimated one-off administration cost of £3m to £4m.
- Expanding Labour’s universal free school meal for primary age children to include secondary pupils – between £80m and £100m a year.
- The Green Party’s manifesto pledges on the NHS, to boost GP and dental services, and provide more primary care cannot be costed as yet and depend on a “fairer” budget settlement coming to Wales from Westminster.
On paying for all this Mr Slaughter says the current funding settlement “is not fair” and Wales should also get consequential HS2 funding and monies from the Crown Estate. His party would also like to see Wales have more power over income tax, as is the case in Scotland, so Wales can raise money that way.
The Greens would also aim to raise money to help pay for its policies through its proposals for a green transformation fund. This would involve selling bonds for people to invest in the green sector and renewable energy in Wales. The party estimates this fund could generate £200m.
Subsidised and free bus travel would also boost coffers because every £1 spent on bus travel makes £4.50 in environmental and social benefit, Mr Slaughter adds.
He reels these figures off without consulting notes and says he wants to bring more positivity and clarity to politics.
On being positive he looks pained when I ask about a controversial retweet by Zack Polanski, Green Party leader for England and Wales, following the stabbing of two Jewish men in London.
Mr Polanski, who is himself Jewish, shared a social media post criticising Met Police officers’ response to the attack in Golders Green on Wednesday, April 29.
Mr Polanski has since apologised for reposting a post on X, which said: “Essentially (his) officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser.”
“For me that would not have been appropriate [to have reposted that tweet],” concedes Mr Slaughter.
“I have not spoken to Zack since and I cannot speak for him.”
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley accused the Green party leader of “fuelling tensions” by sharing the post as he himself posted an open letter to Mr Polanski on social media. Sir Mark said Mr Polanski’s retweet had reinforced “inaccurate and misinformed commentary”.
Officers at the scene were not armed when they detained the suspect, who appeared in court on Friday.
Mr Slaughter says the matter highlights how politicians are expected to respond to things instantly and how social media is “a minefield” for them.
He fears “one of the ugly things” about the recent televised leaders’ debates, in which he has clashed with Wales’ Reform leader Dan Thomas, is that comments risk “demonising the other”.
Before the debates start broadcasters urge the leaders to “fight back” to make good television. None of this is necessarily good for politics or debate, he feels.
While Mr Slaughter has stood in council, Senedd, and Westminster elections in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2024 this campaign is a new beast and he’s ready to take it on.
The Green Party for Wales has never had an MS and has been a party far from power in Wales. That could all be about to change. While polls in this election forecast vary they generally agree the Greens will, within days, have represenation in the Senedd.
With Reform and Plaid neck and neck the Greens, Lib Dems, and Labour have ruled out working with Reform.
If they are able to form a government Plaid, which has previously had a co-operation agreement with Welsh Labour, may not want to be associated with the now less-than-popular party. That means they could come knocking at the Greens’ door.
With the new voting system for the Senedd there may never again be a majority government in Wales, Mr Slaughter predicts. He feels this is a good thing as parties and politicians will have to co-operate, negotiate, and work together for the common good rather than shout at one another across a divide.
His party has not so far had any formal discussions with Plaid on whether it would work with them but Mr Slaughter has thought about how those conversations might go.
While the parties may agree on some key areas there are others that could be tricky and there are some issues the Green Party would refuse to compromise on.
“There have been no official talks with Plaid Cymru but I have made it clear where I will listen and collaborate. Co-operation is in my DNA,” Mr Slaughter says.
“I have spent a lot of time talking to the Scottish Greens who have done this (a deal with a minority SNP government).
“When that deal started to crumbling they walked away and we would too,” he cautions.
“It’s not about red lines but we have to be clear what our priorities are. Meaningful action on climate and nature is critical.”
One contentious potential issue could be pylons to take electricity from wind farms to connect to the grid – a matter fiercely opposed by many in affected rural areas of Wales.
“We need pylons,” Mr Slaughter says. “We need large-scale infrastructure.
“I would never diminish people’s attachment to the landscape but it’s no help if the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru say: ‘We can put it all undeground. We don’t need pylons’ because we do. Wales is 20 years behind where it could be on renewables.”
He believes whoever takes charge of the Senedd needs to be more honest and open reality and to act faster and more boldly to put that policy in place.
He accuses the Labour Party of being “bad at communications” and holding up policy with onerous consultations.
On the matter of whether some voters are turning to the Green Party more out of despair at Labour or dislike of Reform Mr Slaughter insists that is not the main thrust behind his party’s growth.
“Zack becoming leader did turbo-charge growth in Green Party support but the fundamentals were already there,” he says. ” We were already growing.
“We have had big action days in Cardiff. People are really fired up and excited. I am recognised now and I am confident with that. It’s encouraging.
“With this campaign you are not just hoping but believing you can win and that changes the dynamic. We have not been so well-resourced and professional in previous campaigns.”
With days to go before polling day the leader of the Green Party in Wales is excited and ready to see what comes next.
After all the campaigns he’s fought did he ever think his party would get this close to seats in the Senedd and perhaps even power-share in government?
“I wouldn’t have kept doing it if I hadn’t,” he replies with a quiet smile.
In a world of instant demands politics can be a long game after all.
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